Abstract: To investigate the chemical constituents of a South China Sea gorgonian Menella sp., the isolation of ingredients was performed by solvent extraction and repeated chromatography on silica gel, Sephadex LH­20 and preparative TLC. The structures of isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic analysis and comparison of ¹H and ¹³C NMR data with those reported in literatures. Three subergorane sesquiterpenoids and one suberosane sesquiterpenoid were isolated. Their structures were identified as subergorgic acid (1), subergorgic acid methyl ester (2), 2β-hydroxyl subergorgic acid methyl ester (3), and suberosenol A (4). All compounds were isolated from the genus Menella for the first time.

Key words: Gorgonian, Menella sp., Sesquiterpenoid, Plexauridae